: Many time J&K champion and seasoned Sumit Grover (1919) was among top five players to lead after round three in the ongoing International Rating Chess Fiesta Tournament, organized by Jammu District Chess Association, at IDPS School, here today.

Other leaders were highest rated participant, Kumaresh A (2242) of Tamil Nadu, FM Parkash Ram (1961) of Punjab; Akshet Negi (1957) of Delhi and Ishmeet Singh (1853) of Punjab.

Two other J&K young players, Aarav Gupta and Pazhany Kohli also did a fine job winning first two rounds but lost in their third outings to enter the fourth round tomorrow with two points.

Earlier, the third roundof the event witnessed the first upset of the tournament when higher rated senior most participant, SP Sharma (1792) of J&K drew against young 10-yearold, Tanveer Kour (1551) of Punjab. With this drawn game, Tanveer is all set to gain in her rating by holding higher rated opponent to a draw.

In total, 120 players drawn from nine states of the country including Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Karnataka and Punjab are taking part in this nine-round event being held following FIDE Laws of Chess under Swiss system.

A total of Rs two lakh cash prizes will be given away to the winners of different categories. The event being organized in collaboration with Premier Chess Academy USA and IDPS School.

International Arbiter, Varun Kumar is chief Arbiter of this event. He is being supported by a team of five other Arbiters, including Anand J S from Kerela; Arvindu, Nirmal Sharma,  Ajit Kumar and Stuti Gupta all from Jammu.

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